Although NCRR is always ready to respond to emergencies, one of our goals is to try and prevent the need for us to do so by educating the public. One of the best ways we can do this is by coming to schools and talking to students about water safety, storm safety, and what to do if they find themselves lost. The target age group for these presentations is Elementary (K through 3rd grade) but we have also done Preschools and 4th-5th grades as well and would be more than happy to do so again.

We have done presentations for single/multiple classes at schools as well as attended "Park Days" and "Safety/Public Safety Days". We try to do these presentations outside as we like to bring one of our rescue boats with us as well as some of the different gear/equipment we use for the kids to see.

We spend some time talking very briefly about who we are and what we do (we keep this short as it can be a little over their heads sometimes), then we talk about the Hug A Tree program and go over how to avoid getting lost and what to do if a child realizes they are lost. After that, we move on to water safety and talk about ways to prevent drowning.

Once we are done talking, we take questions from the kids (and often from teachers as well). If time permits, we will ask the teacher to help select a couple volunteers to help demonstrate how to use our special ropes and how we carry someone who may be injured out with our Stokes Basket. Last but not least, we let any of the children who would like to climb in our boat do so. Part of this process however is we push the importance of ALWAYS weaing a life jacket when in a boat by having the children put on a life vest before they are assisted into the boat (we ask that teachers help with this process to help speed it up).

Once all this is over, we will give the teacher a packet that contains safety coloring pages as well as a short letter that can be sent home for parents so the parents will know about the presentation and hopefully can engage the children with Q&A to help reinforce what they learned. This page will have a link to our website so the parents can read more about what the kids learned as well as educate themselves on some things that they may have never learned themselves or have forgotten over the years.

If you would like more information about this or would like to schedule a time for NCRR to come and present, please use the contact form below and one of our officers will be reply set up a time.